The Explosive Electric Man Watch-Along
I was flustered because it was just a hobby stream. We were only going to watch anime together, but viewers had suddenly poured in from somewhere. Of course, compared to the top streamers pinned at the top of the platform, it was still nothing, but for me, it was a huge number. The most I'd ever chatted with before was around twenty people.
"What, where'd you all come from?"
There had to be a reason for this.
Checking the chat cleared it up in one go. They were the types wandering around thinking, "I wonder how that guy would react to this scene?"
I did the same thing when I first started watching anime—searching for foreigners' reactions and all that. When total strangers give positive reactions to something you love, you can't help but check it out. It's like vicarious satisfaction. That feeling of "Someone else loves this just as much as I do."
"Ah, so that's why you're here. Welcome, everyone, anyway."
There was a reason I'd changed the stream title to Slutbrain. I'd memorized the anime scenes so well that I even bought the manga online and reread it multiple times. Now I could predict exactly what scene would pop up at any timestamp without even looking.
"Well... probably no one has watched Electric Man more than me? I own all the volumes, physical and digital."
I'd avoided buying physical volumes since my apartment had no space, but Yuu timed it perfectly and sent them over, so they were neatly stacked in the corner.
"No need to prove it right now, moving on. The regulars already saw the proof ages ago anyway."
I ignored the endless demands for proof, set up the watch-along from episode 1 at 0 seconds.
"Okay, starting in three minutes... anyone need the bathroom, go now."
I was a bit excited too. It was my first time watching anime with other people like this.
Not like a movie theater or anything.
After waiting about three minutes—click—I hit play.
> Viewer Count: 74
...Why did more keep trickling in? I shook off the random thoughts, got comfy, and started watching.
Thud, thud. Protagonist Kenji wandered through the bushes clutching his iron weapon. Demons lurked in the foliage, hiding from him.
"Oh, FYI, I'm spoiling freely, so if that bugs you, leave."
The title was right there—if anyone whined about spoilers, instant ban.
Anyway.
"He should've just killed them all right there. Such a shame."
In hindsight, Kenji should've wiped out every demon in those bushes. The ones hiding there grew up to become the threats that terrorized him later.
Kenji, swinging his iron weapon through the bushes, glanced around—whoosh!—and slashed. Demons shredded apart in the foliage. Pure massacre.
-Hahaha!!! This is the flavor, this taste!! Even now, the guy was a total psycho. That's partly why I loved this anime.
"Not a mortal, it was all part of the plan. No badmouthing."
As Kenji wildly swung his weapon indiscriminately—
-Oh...! Girl! Spotting a curvy babe, he haphazardly stowed his weapon and approached. Total woman-obsessed character.
"She really is pretty..." Objectively speaking, yeah. Yuu said it was the character she put the most effort into drawing.
"Should've killed her back then, but that doesn't fit Kenji's character."
As I chatted, I glanced at the viewer count. Chat speed had ramped up noticeably.
> Viewer Count: 102
"Huh?"
What the hell. Why were they polluting my little stream? It was supposed to be a cozy spot for like twenty people to chat anime peacefully.
I thought about it for a sec—They'll leave when time passes. Decided not to sweat it. Worrying would just tire me out. And who sticks around a stream this chaotic anyway?
*
> Viewer Count: 485
"Guys, why are you watching in such hordes?"
I'd planned to watch straight through without pausing, but this was annoying. A moderate bump was fine, but this was excessive.
The chat scroll speed confirmed it wasn't a glitch or bot-fiddled numbers. What the actual fuck?
Permanently banned.
"Chat nicer if you wanna stick around."
Sigh. Gave up. No way it'd keep growing here. Just an anime watch-along, after all.
Click. Resumed the anime.
Decided to ignore viewer count from here. Just enjoy the rest of the anime.
"This is the only peaceful part. After this, hell begins for real—that's peak happy times for Kenji's party."
"Family sim is the fun part, no badmouthing."
These family moments make the later tragedies hit harder. Every family scene in Yuu's work sets up the gut-punches to come. Knowing what's ahead makes these bits even tastier.
Those in the know get it. Kept watching.
The rest was straightforward. People gathered around Kenji, forming a party to hunt demons everywhere. Bonds deepened, story built up.
As the anime wrapped—
-Die. Kenji. The first girl he met stabbed him in the back, ending season 1.
"Ahh, so fun."
This was anime. This was manga. Rewatch after rewatch, still peak. Art, everything—flawless masterpiece.